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PENTECOST: A TIME TO BE FILLED WITH GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT
Receive the Holy Spirit Barbara Bernstengel
The
Day of Pentecost May 11, 2008
Acts 2:1-21 or Numbers 11:24-30
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 or Acts 2:1-21 John
20:19-23 or John 7:37-39
Receive
the Holy Spirit
Breathe on me breath of God; Fill me with life anew ... (Edwin Hatch,
1835-1889)
Like a "breath of fresh air," this week's Scripture texts remind us of our
source of life - that which sustains and renews us. Words like "mighty wind,"
"breath," and "Holy Spirit" punctuate the pericopes. And they call to mind
Genesis 1:2, where we read that "the Spirit of God [or a mighty wind] was moving
over the water," and Genesis 2:7, where it is recorded that "God breathed life
into the man" (CEV). As noted in the words above from a hymn written by Edwin
Hatch, God supplies us with the breath of life. Psalm 104, a beautiful hymn in
praise of creation, includes these words:
Our LORD, by your wisdom you made so many things; The whole earth is covered
with your living creatures. . . .
You created all of them by your Spirit, and you give new life to the earth.
(verses 24, 30, CEV)
New life in the Spirit is God's promise to us. On this Day of Pentecost, our
Gospel text transports us back fifty days to the day of Christ's Resurrection.
It is evening; the disciples are locked behind closed doors. Suddenly, Jesus is
in their midst! His post-resurrection appearance catches them off guard. After
the disciples determine that their Lord is indeed risen and is with them in the
flesh, Jesus breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
The disciples receive that which Jesus promised in his final discourse with
them prior to his arrest and crucifixion - the Spirit of truth who will guide
them into the full truth, teach them everything, help them, and who will keep on
living in them (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:13). Filled with the Spirit,
the disciples are now equipped to carry out Jesus' mission - to forgive sins
(John 20:23) and tell all people of every nation to turn to God (Luke 24:47).
Jesus tells his followers, "I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me"
(John 20:21b, CEV), words that recall Jesus' prayer for his followers on the
night of his betrayal: "I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me"
(John 17:18, CEV).
On this Day of Pentecost, the text from Acts records the event that takes
place ten days after Christ's ascension into heaven. The Holy Spirit, promised
by Jesus before he ascended (Acts 1:8), has come like "a mighty wind" and as
"fiery tongues" on the expectant disciples (Acts 2:2, 3, CEV). Today, we, as
twenty-first century witnesses to the gospel, are also recipients of God's Holy
Spirit, this life-giving breath of God.
Sometimes those who receive God's Spirit are described as being "on fire" for
the Lord! Yes, as "Pentecost" people, we should be "on fire" because God's
Spirit continues to live in us. Jesus' words to his disciples are now his words
to us. We have received the breath of God, and, like the disciples, we are sent
to tell everyone the good news about Jesus. As the Church, Christ's body on
earth, we continue to be "led by God's Spirit" to proclaim that "Jesus is Lord"
(1 Corinthians 12:3, CEV). Receive the Holy Spirit! - - - - -
This week's Reflection was prepared by Barbara Bernstengel,
who serves on the staff of the American Bible Society as Director of the
Education Unit in the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship.
Blessed Assurance Barbara Bernstengel
Seventh
Sunday of Easter May 4, 2008
Acts 1:6-14 - Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
- 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 - John 17:1-11 Written to Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor in the first century
A.D., the letter of 1 Peter acknowledges that the community of believers may
face suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus. But the writer reminds his
readers/listeners that such suffering will not defeat them. God is in control
(5:11), and following a time of suffering, God promises the faithful that they
will be restored and will be made "complete, steady, strong, and firm" (5:10,
CEV).
1 Peter 5:10 was a verse that brought much comfort to me in the days
following the death of my father. When his suffering ended and the Lord called
him home, I pictured my father as one who had been restored and made strong. His
body, frail from his illness, was now "beautiful and strong" (1 Corinthians
15:43, CEV). That the Holy One has chosen us "to share in his eternal glory" (1
Peter 5:10, CEV) is a promise that fills us with hope.This week's Gospel reading from John is a portion of Jesus' final prayer
prior to his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. In this prayer, Jesus entrusts his
followers to God's care, praying on their behalf (17:9) and asking God to "keep
them safe by the power of the name" that God the Father has given him (17:11,
CEV). His prayer was not only for his beloved disciples, but it is for us today
as well. Jesus prayed for all who would come to believe because of the witness
and testimony of his early followers (17:20).Jesus has entrusted us to God's loving care. Jesus, our great high priest,
"understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we
are." And so we are to "come bravely before the throne of our merciful God.
There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help" (Hebrews
4:15,16, CEV).
After Jesus' ascension into heaven, "the apostles often met together and
prayed with a single purpose in mind" (Acts 1:14a, CEV). An inspiring example
for us to follow today -- meeting regularly with members of a community of faith
to pray, to come before God's throne of grace, to cast our burdens at the feet
of our loving and merciful God, and to experience the peace that Jesus promises
(John 14:27). Yes, God cares for you! Turn all your worries over to him. This is
blessed assurance indeed! - - - - -
This week's Reflection was prepared by Barbara Bernstengel,
who serves on the staff of the American Bible Society as Director of the
Education Unit in the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship.
Jesus Is the Way, the Truth, and the Life Rev. Lauren Gough,
Fifth
Sunday of Easter April 20, 2008
Acts 7:55-60 ______Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
1 Peter 2:2-10 __________John 14:1-14
Perhaps the hardest question that Christians have to ask of themselves is
"what does God want of me?" Those of us who have totally committed our lives to
Christ want to know how to follow the God who has given his life that we might
know what freedom is. It is part of our Christian commitment.
The Gospel reading for this week takes place following the final Passover
meal that Jesus celebrates with his disciples. He tells them he will not be with
them for much longer and bids them to love one another so that others will know
that they are his disciples.
It is clear that Jesus is preparing his followers to carry on the work that
he has been doing and that he will return to take them with him. Thomas, who in
John's Gospel is often the one who asks the important questions, asserts that
the disciples don't know the way. Plainly, Thomas does not understand that Jesus
is speaking of his death. And so he asks the important question: "How can we
know the way?"
But Jesus answers saying, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life!"
There is more than one level of understanding this story. There is the
understanding that Jesus' first disciples would have had about where Jesus was
going and there is also the understanding that later followers of John would
have had hearing this story some sixty years after the event.
Thomas wants to know if Jesus is taking them back to Galilee or some such
destination where Jesus carried out his ministry. But Jesus is trying to prepare
his disciples for his death and his resurrection. John, on the other hand, is
trying to assure his followers that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is the
way to know that the place of which Jesus speaks is one that is prepared for
them within God's family.
The word in Greek for way can be understood at many different levels. It can
mean a geographical location, or a means to a geographical location, or it can
mean a level of knowing. In John, the way is knowing Jesus.
Jesus' mission was to show the world the Father - to show us how to love one
another. Philip requests that Jesus show his followers the Father. Once again,
Jesus is speaking on another level. "If you know me, Philip, you know the
Father," Jesus seems to be saying.
Today, Christians need not worry about how to fulfill God's will. We have
been promised by Jesus that, if we follow him, we will know the Father. We
search the Gospels for ways to more surely follow Jesus' Way, but still we know
that we are called to participate in God's family. We live out the 'destination'
of God's house when we, too, show others the Father by the way that we act and
live. When we live lives that welcome others to God's all-inclusive love, and
become living examples of that love, we know the way that Jesus took. - - -
- -
This week's Reflection was prepared by the Rev. Lauren Gough,
an Episcopal priest serving as pastor at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Sidney, New
York.
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Activity Corner
Pentecost "Wind Socks"
Supplies needed: Bible; red and yellow construction paper (8-1/2" x 11");
strips (about 1" wide) of red and white crepe paper (approximately 15" long);
stapler; scotch tape; scissors; hole puncher; yarn or string; glue or paste;
glitter or stickers (optional).
Cut four or six strips of crepe paper (2 or 3 red, 2 or 3 white) and tape or
paste them along the bottom of the 11" side of a sheet of construction paper,
alternating the red and the white strips. On the reverse side, decorate the
sheet with "tongues of fire" made from yellow construction paper and with
glitter or stickers. Roll the sheet and staple or tape the ends together. Punch
two holes at the top and add string. Hang the wind sock outside (weather
permitting) or hang it in a window as a reminder of God's sending the gift of
the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Conclude by reading together Acts 2:1-4. At the
end of the reading, invite everyone to respond together, "COME HOLY SPIRIT!"
Sing "Every Time I Feel the Spirit" or "I'm Gonna Sing When the Spirit Says
Sing," or one of your favorite hymns that celebrates the coming of the Holy
Spirit.
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